A Feather Tale
A Feather Tale is a short film about a relationship between a particular woman and man. It is evident that the relationship is abusive, but any speculation beyond that is open to interpretation. Although some have been saying the woman in the film was raped or a prostitute, I disagree. I think it was rape, but within a "normal" relationship--as normal as an abusive relationship can be anyhow.
In the beginning of the film, the man calls the woman on the phone after she awakes crying. As the woman cradles the phone to her ear, it turns into the man. He looks to be whispering in her ear, reminiscent of the "bad conscience" typology in children's stories. In my perception, he was whispering words that were on the surface encouraging, but were in truth simply words to get her to come to his place so he could have sex with her. I thought the fact that she (symbolized as a chicken with a female head and legs) was delivered to him was a parallel of how women who think themselves capable of nothing better virtually hand their entire self, emotion, ego, and all, over to an abusive boyfriend for him to easily manipulate.
At first the man is gentle to the chicken, lulling it into a false sense of security and trust. Once he calms it down enough, he begins to stroke its wings. Eventually, he becomes increasingly more violent in response to the chicken's unease and finally plucks away all its feathers and begins to devour it. This is reminiscent of the stages of an abusive relationship. First, the abuser convinces the victim that he (in this case, though women abuse men as well as men abusing women) is trustworthy. Then, he gets her to completely trust him, usually to the point of him becoming the only person she trusts. Often, this is the point where she will begin to completely neglect her other relationships in favor of being with the abuser. When she begins to get uneasy about the health of the relationship, or even simply if a certain point is reached that "flips a switch" for the abuser, the relationship becomes outright physically abusive, and the abuser begins forcing the victim to do things she does not wish to do.
In the case of A Feather Tale, it seems to me that the man wanted the woman to have sex with him and she did not wish to do so. In the end, he forced her to have sex with him, causing her to lose her dignity. The imagery of the chicken's feathers being forcefully torn off, and the woman bending over them at the end of the film, symbolizes the dignity that was lost and the irreparable damage done when she was forced to play a role that she did not wish to play.
In the beginning of the film, the man calls the woman on the phone after she awakes crying. As the woman cradles the phone to her ear, it turns into the man. He looks to be whispering in her ear, reminiscent of the "bad conscience" typology in children's stories. In my perception, he was whispering words that were on the surface encouraging, but were in truth simply words to get her to come to his place so he could have sex with her. I thought the fact that she (symbolized as a chicken with a female head and legs) was delivered to him was a parallel of how women who think themselves capable of nothing better virtually hand their entire self, emotion, ego, and all, over to an abusive boyfriend for him to easily manipulate.
At first the man is gentle to the chicken, lulling it into a false sense of security and trust. Once he calms it down enough, he begins to stroke its wings. Eventually, he becomes increasingly more violent in response to the chicken's unease and finally plucks away all its feathers and begins to devour it. This is reminiscent of the stages of an abusive relationship. First, the abuser convinces the victim that he (in this case, though women abuse men as well as men abusing women) is trustworthy. Then, he gets her to completely trust him, usually to the point of him becoming the only person she trusts. Often, this is the point where she will begin to completely neglect her other relationships in favor of being with the abuser. When she begins to get uneasy about the health of the relationship, or even simply if a certain point is reached that "flips a switch" for the abuser, the relationship becomes outright physically abusive, and the abuser begins forcing the victim to do things she does not wish to do.
In the case of A Feather Tale, it seems to me that the man wanted the woman to have sex with him and she did not wish to do so. In the end, he forced her to have sex with him, causing her to lose her dignity. The imagery of the chicken's feathers being forcefully torn off, and the woman bending over them at the end of the film, symbolizes the dignity that was lost and the irreparable damage done when she was forced to play a role that she did not wish to play.
posted by Kate at 8:40 PM
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